Having an interest

Question

Our PC nominated 3 councillors to interview a new clerk. (fourth in 3 years!!)

The chair who's friend is standing in as clerk has told one of the panel she must resign as she knows him and another who has applied for the clerks position as 'they have an interest'.

All of the PC's know the temporary clerk anyway as it is a small community

Can the chair, out of committee without telling anyone else tell her this? Obviously she feels intimidated and bullied but doesn't know whether she needs to come off the panel (so he, the chair, can take her place) ! She is ready to resign such is the 'covert' intimidation.

Has the chair the authority to do this?

Thank you

Answer 1

If the interview panel was agreed at council, the decision can't be revisited for 6 months so the original resolution must be adhered to if it's in that time frame. The chair couldn't alter that decision unilaterally anyway. My advice to your councillor would be to interview as normal and give feedback afterwards, but for transparency's sake, abstain from the vote/decision. What do your standing orders say about members with personal interests?

Comments

Thank you AbiBassett; there is nothing re 'personal interests; just pecuniary in the SO's.  As a small village with less than 300 residents the chances of finding someone that 'no one' knows to be a clerk is very low.
It is a ridiculous situation but where out chairman and his buddies take full advantage of if need be to rid any one they do not want to be on the panel.  We have the same problem with the community trust where they say one can't be involved in decision making because they know "someone".  But my main worry is that the bullying continues "covertly" and no one, even our monitoring officer appears interested in stepping in. This chairman is a devious individual who 'plays' one against the other and the feeling on hte PC is not a nice one. No one wants to complain to the MO as then all will be seen to be colluding with him and his buddies. I realise you can't stop them emailing but the mails are to certain councillors and leaving out others so they do not know what i going on. Is this not illegal?
If we were to follow your advice re transparency then NONE of the panel or any of the PC's could vote as they know the applicants for the role of clerk. The chair wants his pal in and is happy to bully and intimidate. What is the solution?

Answer 2

Abi Bassett is quite right to point out that the chair (or any other individual councillor) has no power to make decisions. Only the council or its committees meeting formally with proper notice can make a decision (or a council officer if delegated by the council).

The six month restriction is commonly in standing orders, but not in legislation. It is possible for the council to agree to override that standing order, but it does need a formal decision to do so.

It is not up to the council or any of its members to decide whether a councillor has an interest in a matter that would require them to withdraw from consideration of that matter. It is entirely down to the individual councillor to make their own decision. If is permissible for other councillors to remind an inexperienced councillor of the restrictions but this should be done in a constructive way and does not have any binding force.

On the specific question, there is a difference between knowing someone and being a friend of someone. If a councillor makes a decision that could bring financial benefit to family or friends, then that would be wrong. Merely appointing someone who is known to the councillor is not wrong. Where the line is drawn is up to the individual councillor.

The chair is not entitled to automatically substitute for another councillor unless the original council decision appointing members to the panel stipulated that.